• Computer work with binary numbers and first programs are called low-level.

• First-generation languages, called machine languages, only used 1s and 0s. This was very time consuming and hard to make error-free.

• Second- generation languages are called assembly languages (1950). They used some letters (mnemonics such as A for add, M for multiply). It made programming easier and faster).

• Third- generation of programming languages appeared in mid-1950s. They were called high- level languages because they are largely independent of the hardware. Procedural languages were designed for particular problems:

-FORTRAN- (FORmula TRANslation) was used mainly for scientific calculations.

-COBOL- (COmmon Business Oriented Language) was developed in 1959 for commercial use.

-Most popular language for personal computer use was BASIC (Beginners All- purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), developed in 1967.

• Fourth- generation languages are non-procedural and used mostly for industrial control and scientific applications. The first one, FORTH, was developed in 1970.

• Fifth- generation languages are an outgrowth of artificial intelligence (e.g., LISP, GPSS).

• High- level languages require a compiler or interpreter to change it to instructions the computer readily understands. A compiler translates high- level instructions directly into machine language by looking at the entire source code and reorganizing the instructions into an intermediate form which it executes one line at a time.

• Languages are also used for web design, (e.g., JAVA and HTML).

• Computers can do things for you if you give them the instruction for doing them.

• A sequence of instructions for a computer is called a computer program. These instructions are sometimes called statements.

• Programs are written in a programming language just as number facts can be written in a mathematical language.

• JavaScript programming language is very easy to learn and yet very powerful. Other languages that beginners use for programming include Visual Basic, Pasca, and Turingl.

• JavaScript programs are easy for you to understand which is one of the most important properties of a good programming language.

• Generally, the computer must have Netscape or JavaScript installed to run a JavaScript program. You can use windows notepad to create your program and then test it in either Internet Explorer 5 or Netscape